We had a people manager training at work today that (for once) was not led by me. I invited an executive coach who often does consulting for us to come in and talk to all our managers about how to have coaching conversations with employees. It was nice to sit back and be able to take in the content myself–I have a lot of room to grow in my own management and leadership skills, after all. Sometimes I need to be in student mode.
The trainer walked us through the GROW model of coaching. This diagram gives the basics:
The idea is that you ask questions like these (or similar, for example in the ‘Goal’ part of the conversation you might also ask it a different way like “what do you want to achieve?” or “what would be a good outcome be for you?”) in a kind of funnel to commitment (what will you do, when will you do it?). It’s also supposed to be just that — questions. Not necessarily directing advice or offering your own ideas, but helping people think through their own solutions.
It’s one of those models that isn’t really surprising to me, but I like a lot of reinforcement and repetitiveness in my learning. And I do think I’m prone to snap into problem-solver mode rather than letting myself stay curious and ask good questions. We did some breakout rooms with a roleplay where I was just an observer, and I found myself thinking of all the solutions I would offer in the imaginary scenario my two coworkers were acting out. It’s something I can work on as a leader.
With Love,
Natalie